The battle to save the ‘much abused’ apostrophe has taken a bitter blow after a society dedicated to preserving it announced plans’ to close.
Chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society John Richard’s declared that ignorance and laziness has won.
The former journalist set APS up in 2001 after he retired from a career as a journalist.
Now aged 96, Mr Richards is calling time on the society which lists the three simple rule’s for correct use of the punctuation mark.
Writing on the societys website, he said: ‘Fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language.
‘We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!’
Mr Richards started the society after seeing the ‘same mistakes over and over again’ and hoped he would find half a dozen people who felt the same way.
He said: ‘I didn’t find half a dozen people.
‘Instead, within a month of my plaint appearing in a national newspaper, I received over 500 letters of support, not only from all corners of the United Kingdom, but also from America, Australia, France, Sweden, Hong Kong and Canada.’
The website will stay open for reference and interest.
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